Martín Zimmerman on “Ozark” and How Money Lures Us to Crime

Episode Description

Our guest on The Scene today is playwright and screenwriter Martín Zimmerman. His plays include Seven Spots On The Sun, On The Exhale, White Tie Ball, The Making Of A Modern Folk Hero, The Solid Sand Below and Let Me Count The Ways, and he has received many awards including the Terrance McNally New Play Award, Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award Citation and the National New Play Network’s Smith Prize. For television he has written for Netflix’s Narcos and is currently an Executive Story Editor for their new series Ozark. Ozark stars Jason Bateman as a financial advisor named Marty Byrde who has spent years quietly laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel. When Marty’s partner is discovered to have been cheating the cartel and Marty is left on his own, he is forced to uproot his family and move to the Ozarks, with the task of laundering eight million dollars. In our conversation today, we look at the way this story about wealth, and the desperate lengths to which people are willing to go to preserve it, reflects the financial anxieties felt by many in this country. We consider the way money and status become valuable tools for reinvention, and how that theme is also reflected in his play The Making of a Modern Folk Hero, opening in October at Chicago Dramatists in a production by Other Theatre. I should note that our talk is essentially spoiler free, other than covering some of the exposition in the first episode, and it should be accessible to anyone interested in a conversation on money, crime and why people never feel financially secure. Martín Zimmerman (Photo: Carin Silkaitis)  Thanks to all our listeners for your continued support. If you enjoyed this show, we hope you’ll also consider sharing it with others or on social media. It only takes a moment, but when our viewers post, retweet or otherwise recommend an episode they like, it’s extremely beneficial for the show. We also invite you to catch up on all our past episodes, either here on the CFR or by subscribing on iTunes. On Twitter, you can follow me and this show @_SeanDouglass_ or @TheSceneCFR. Zimmerman’s play On The Exhale is streamable at BroadwayHD. The post Martín Zimmerman on “Ozark” and How Money Lures Us to Crime appeared first on Clyde Fitch Report. You May Also Like Tony-Winner Clint Ramos: Strange Art Makes Us Better People Producer Andrew Asnes Brings You Broadway in 360° In “Bulldozer,” Constantine Maroulis Brings Rock to Urba... Patriots Day’s Themo Melikidze Enters the Mind of a Terrorist How Director Emmi Hilger is Growing the Canon of Magical Realism Why Nijla Mu’min is a Director to Watch Andrew Hinderaker: Taking a Risk on the Impossible Calvin Levels and Lonny Price on the Legacies of Great Painters John O’Hurley on Why We Need the Great American Songbook Katdashians, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Politics of Parody CFR Podcast Roundtable: Why We Need Books Reginald Edmund, Idris Goodwin Stage Black Lives, Black Words Why Oscar-Nominee James Cromwell Went to Jail Jason Mraz Says Broadway Has Transformed Him Sarah Gubbins Kindles a Dramedy of Desire with “I Love Dick... Will Robots Replace Human Artists? How Susan Bernfield Proves the Viability of Weird Theater Jennifer Haley Takes Us into the Darknet Money, Love, Sex and Power: Playwright Gina Gionfriddo How Kelly Jenrette and Melvin Jackson Jr. Made Emmy History Alex Mohajer: Bros4America and the Truth Behind Trump What Is the Future of Theater Podcasting? Will Eno Brings “Thom Pain,” Starring Rainn Wilson, to B... The Middle Class is Sick. Rebecca Gilman Has the Cure. Why We Need Black Antiheroes, with Antoinette Nwandu Diverse Narratives Flourish at the House of Chay Yew Director Michael Almereyda on Making “Marjorie Prime” Catherine Curtin on the Fight for Justice and Human Dignity Niegel Smith of The Flea Theater Will Make Us “Color BraveR... Can Playwright Rajiv Joseph Cure Our Fake News Sickness? ‘Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.’ Proves We Need More Political Pop ... How Artists Can Be Political Activists: A Podcast with TCG Why “The Haven” Is a Must-See Web Series Sarah Ruhl on Democracy and Why Trump is a Great Tapeworm